More bad news for the Browns and Jimmy Haslam

Two employees of Pilot Flying J have pleaded guilty and revealed further details of the criminal rebate fraud allegedly perpetrated for years by Pilot Flying J.

Haslam continues to state that he had no knowledge of how his company was defrauding customers of millions of dollars day to day.

If looks could kill

Here's a photo of Jimmy Haslam snapped at Pilot Flying J headquarters in the hallway outside a conference room where Haslam was to give a briefing on the Pilot Flying J scandal.  Clearly the photographer did not have permission to be taking a photo outside the meeting room and ole' Jimmy was not the least bit pleased that this breach was taking place.

Meanwhile this week Haslam looked to Brown's great Jim Brown hoping that the trust and goodwill Brown was in the community might rub off.   My favorite summary of that press conference comes from the Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw who wrote the following:

Browns dump Locally owned Tenable Protective Services

Details are beginning to emerge today via social media that the Cleveland Browns have dumped locally owned Tenable Protective services in favor of a Philadelphia based supplier.   According to sources 1100 full time local positions are at risk.  My guess is that the Philadelphia based service will rehire many of the Tenable employees, albeit at a lower salary.

This is a bad sign the new owner is focused on profit and furthermore his legal troubles may be forcing him to squeeze cash from all available sources.

We will be monitoring this breaking story.


From a FACEBOOK post made today:

Class Action Lawsuits: 7 Browns Ownership: 0

In what may be a foreshadowing of the upcoming Browns season, there are now 7 class action lawsuits against the Browns Owner, Jim Haslam and to date the best Haslam has come up with to manage the situation is a bit of a Hail Mary.   It appears that Haslam's opponents (formerly known as his customers) are piling on class action lawsuits against Pilot Flying J.   Haslam may be mired in legal issues for years, which will leave the dream team of Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi to manage the Browns......

Browns draft grade

Haslam legal troubles

Great article by the Nashville Scene on Haslam.
Bottom line is that Haslam had to know about the rebate fraud in his company.

A key snippet below:

Mike Lombardi

In 2007, when the Raiders drafted JaMarcus Russell, Mike Lombardi was the Raiders top executive in charge of player personnel. Russell is commonly viewed as the worst draft pick in NFL history. Over time Lombardi has managed to spread the story that he really wasn't in charge of that draft. Al Davis made the pick of Russell.

Earlier this week when the Browns picked DE Barkevious Mingo with their first round pick, it was hard not to recall that the last time Lombardi picked a LB in round 1 he was employed as Director of Personnel for our Browns and picked Craig Powell.  When I pointed that out several fans answered that Belichick, not Lombardi, was pulling the strings in that draft. 

It's simply not true that Lombardi was not involved in numerous failed draft picks but you do have to take your hat off to Mike Lombardi for his incredible ability to manipulate the media and revise history when it suits him. 

Most pundits have Browns fighting for top draft pick in 2014

In other words, experts are lining up to say that the Browns may well be the worst team in the NFL next year.

We have somehow gone from being in the forth year of Mike Holmgren's five year plan, to being in year one of Joe Banner's five year plan.   More losing is on the horizon.

Pilot Flying J targeted Hispanics.

More fun from the Pilot Flying J affidavit.

Judgement day - Brandon Weeden

There is been a lot of speculation among fans, about Brandon Weeden's future in Cleveland.  Today we will find out what Cleveland really thinks about their quarterback.  With his legal problems, Jimmy Haslam will be under pressure to win immediately in Cleveland. If the Browns don't believe in Brandon Weeden, today they surely will draft a quarterback. If they do believe in Weeden, they will wait.

From the affidavit - Pilot Flying J internal conversations

The below conversation was secretly recorded by the FBI during their investigation of Pilot Flying J.  The conversation can be found on the the FBI affidavit about the Pilot Flying J matter.

Note how leadership in Pilot Flying J take advantage of their customers, note the lack of respect towards customers and note the use of off color language. 

Browns lousy ticket holder support

As a Browns season ticket holder I've found that if I have a question for the Cleveland Browns support staff that involves generating revenue for the team, question are answered immediately. If however I have a complaint, it's as if I don't exist.  

I'm in my second season as a ticket holder so except for about 4 months, Jimmy Haslam has owned the team during the time I've held season tickets. I have to ask the question now that I see how Pilot Flying J is run, if the Browns focus on cash and their lack of focus on customer services is a result of poor leadership or worse, organizational philosophy.

Browns season ticket holders invited to cruise ship event